|
Red Garnet is a very prolific gemstone and is found in many countries. It is even found here in New Zealand, quite often in association with gold mining, but is generally too small to be cut commercially. The big producers of cutting quality Garnet are generally on the African subcontinent and Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Mali are just some of the locations. The red Garnet varieties can be quite confusing since they can be either Pyrope or Almandine or several combinations and even crossing over into Rhodolite. We find it is easier to distinguish them by colour with the lower grades having more of a brownish or very deep red overtone and the better grades having a purer lighter reddish overtone. However it is interesting to note that many people think of Garnet as being red but very little is pure red and it is a disservice to Ruby to call garnets red…but there you go..we say red but its under advisement. |
